The Curious Case of the 5bn USDT Misprint by Tether

It has been at least a full week since the latest debacle involving Tether and USDT got some attention. This long wait is now over, by the look of things, as the company successfully printed $5bn USDT in quick succession, prior to burning the majority of these tokens shortly after. Speculation is running wild as to what has been going on exactly and why this was even possible in the first place. 

The 5bn USDT Inflation by Tether

There are dedicated Twitter accounts which keep track of any unusual development affecting the world’s leading cryptocurrencies, tokens, and assets. The Whale_Alert account is renowned in this regard, as it shows how things can easily get out of hand for unknown reasons. This account gained a lot of attention a few hours ago a sit reported a new influx of USDT tokens created by Tether. However, it seems the total amount of tokens created exceeds the current total supply, as 5 billion USDT were suddenly added to the supply. 

5,000,000,000 #USDT (4,996,932,524 USD) minted at Tether Treasury

Tx: https://t.co/2FzJrc3tyi

— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) July 13, 2019

Although it is not uncommon for Tether to increase its supply by several million now and then, it is evident that adding multiple billion USDT in one go is not exactly normal. There are many possible reasons as to why this amount was created in the first place, albeit the company has yet to offer an official explanation in this regard. Even so, it is evident the overall supply of USDT hasn’t shifted by much in the end, as it remains just under $4bn according to CoinMarketCap. 

Burning 90% in 30 Minutes

Perhaps the more intriguing development associated with the Tether printing press is how 4.5 bn tokens were quickly taken out of circulation once again. That seems to indicate the original goal was to create 500 million additional USDT overnight, yet somehow an additional zero was added to this figure by accident. It is certainly a costly mistake to make, and one that has put pretty much everyone in the cryptocurrency community on high alert all of a sudden.

4,500,000,000 #USDT (4,498,454,588 USD) burned at Tether Treasury

Tx: https://t.co/gobsOzzMDZ

— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) July 13, 2019

With the excess supply now taken out of circulation again, it seems things will return to normal pretty soon. There are still some people who are concerned over how Tether can seemingly add 500 million USDT to its supply, although that doesn’t necessarily mean this entire supply is in circulation at any given time. For now, there doesn’t appear anything to be overly concerned about just yet, although the company should try to avoid these “odd” mistakes in the future to the best of their ability. 

Bitcoin Price Drops Hard

One can never say for sure if any development regarding Tether will impact the current Bitcoin price. What everyone can see, however, is how the Bitcoin value dropped like a brick once this “misprint” got a lot of attention. Both events are potentially completely unrelated, albeit there will always be conspiracy theories to keep the community engaged at all times. For now, it seems that Bitcoin is going through the regular “weekend motions” with big price fluctuations in either direction. 

Disclaimer: This is not trading or investment advice. The above article is for entertainment and education purposes only. Please do your own research before purchasing or investing into any cryptocurrency or digital currency.

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